Condo Association Info

This page is for me to remember stuff as I age. It is my thoughts and opinions only.

Nope, no board member listed on the BIG Deb site. . Strangers not in need of any association info need to close this page and go away please. That being said:

Bylaws, bylaws, bylaws, Chicago Condo Bylaws...doncha just love 'em?

Everyone should read their condo bylaws booklet they got during closing so we can all be on the same page when meeting to decide HOA new board members.

By law, we must have a President, Treasurer, and Secretary. Any other positions you want to make up are fine and the more the better for getting a quorum.

Two-thirds of the board (2 of 3) hold seats for only one year. The other one has to be changed out after only a 2-year term. This means that everyone should be a board member at least one time, unless the person booted wants to be re-elected.

(But you still need formal paper ballots and each UNIT has to make his/her mark on those ballots and those ballot be kept for 7 years.)
Each UNIT has ONE ballot. Each unit has a "PERCENT OWNERSHIP."
That is your portion with which you get to vote. 1N=9.4%, 1S=9.4, 2N=12.7. 2S=12.8, 3N=13.2, 3S=13.4, 4N=14.5, 4S=14.6 All that adds to 100%.

Q: Why do the residents across the hall own more (or less) than me?

A: It is based on your square footage and due to differences in the floor plan. yadda yadda. Ask Jonathan to explain it. North siders have their 2nd bedroom shared with a huge "light well" / "ventilation shaft." I double bed barely fits in it.

uh oh...somebody rounded these values just a hair wrong I think.
I gotta get the Treasurer to confirm these values. I see discrepancy in that the difference between 3N/3S is 0.2% while 2N/2S, and 4N/4S is only 0.1% (crap!) Today is March 19, 2015. I just noticed this. But for voting purposes you can use these values to understand just how much pull each unit has.

There has to be no less than 4 full condo meetings per year. They have to be announced WAAAY ahead of time (30 days) and POSTED. This is really difficult to abide by and we need to add an amendment to agree at an earlier date as each schedule allows for. The board members can and should meet more often.
Everyone has to be invited to EVERY meeting if just to listen, record, take personal notes, etc. Only if the board is having a meeting to discuss a specific owner against whom they are taking action, or an owner taking action against the board, can that owner be excluded. NO SECRET MEETINGS. NO SECRET LAWS/RULES MADE.
We can talk all we want to our neighbors about the condo, but those discussions are considered "campaigning." I have been campaigning for a pressure washer (3000psi), more outdoor water spouts, fire extuingishers, metal reinforced washing machine hoses, and much more.
Others are campaigning for an updated, nicely designed lobby and stairwell area, and more stairwell lighting.

We are lacking many things. Because only a couple people actually want to get their hands dirty, we have to pay to get every little task done.

Our account is not large enough to get all the things we need. It gets eaten up from just getting the balconies painted way too often. (We keep choosing to go with crap Rustoleum that chips off in 2 years.)

2015: Our assessments are still below $300. I am told that is very low.

The world is a political game; so is getting what you think we need that is currently not budgeted for. Get out there and convince your neighbors that YOUR idea is the best! Then make your presentation to the board. If the price is under a specific percentage (as specifically outlined in the bylaws,) the board CAN vote and approve those items.
If you want big bucks, you make the presentation at the "condo owners meeting" and try to obtain your needed votes to have a new budget item added. If there is no current category for such item, it has to be voted in and may require a higher assessment from all your neighbors.
The opposition will get to also present WHY it is STUPID, TOO EXPENSIVE, TOO EARLY, and how we need to save all our monies for what they will propose are MORE NEEDED ITEMS.
Keep campaigning. Read and understand every allocation in the budget and where you think the money can be re-allocated. Calcualte how little it will cost each owner and over what span of time.

We can do any and everything we want, as long as there are actual dollars in the proper category in the budget for what you think we need and a quorum agrees.

Our 10 year history has proven that natural politicians who sit on the board always get what they want. Run for a board position if you want some extra, totally legal, psychological pull.

At the time I wrote this in 2006, there has never been an electronic copy, nor scan made.
Why? Hell, I dunno.
If you chose to hunt down the original digital version from the lawyer named below,
or have the abilty to convert your exisitng paper copy to digital form (images or actual text)
I'd love you and love to have that here for easy access, and so as to NEVER LOSE IT
...as is always the case with me and many others.And good grief is that thing filled with crap that does not pertain to us. (well, yet)We still have yet to officially add a single amendment.Like: No large object to ever be moved through the front stairwell
or ye shall pay to have all damage repaired. We agreed that, but never formalized it,
nor the punitive actions that will be taken if an owner or any person or persons working for
said owner do not abide. (Dog walkers, movers, contractors, stuff, more stuff, really big stuff, etcetera.) Just agreeing to abide by some rule is not working whatsoever.
If it is not added to OUR bylaws we have no recourse, except maybe a vandelism ticket from the police. Yeah, right. HA! I'd like to see the look on the officer's face! Funny.

The declaration refered to above, which was prepared by our Closing Attny (Maureen C. Pitarski) refers often to the "Condominium Property Act of the State of Illinois" and its associated "ammendments." Here is a link to that document.